NEWS
--The Little Falls City Council met on Monday night. At their meeting the council approved an exempt permit for a Knights of Columbus raffle; accepted the resignation of utility billing clerk Kathy White who will be relocating. Her last day will be December 10th and retirement of assistant Golf Superintendent Dale Branchaud whose last day will be December 31st. The council approved implementing a new payroll and time card software “ExecuTime Software” for the city in the near future. A kiosk was approved to be installed in Maple Island Park next year. The kiosk will be a three sided sign showing some history, safety information about the Mississippi River and points of entry and exits along the river from Maple Island Park to Blanchard Dam. The council is changing their planning and zoning services from Hometown Planning to Sourcewell starting January 1st. The election polling places in 2020 were set the same as they were in 2018 (Little Falls City Hall, Initiative Foundation and Bethel Lutheran Church). Lori Kasella was designated as the official election administrator. The Little Falls City Council meets next on Monday, December 2nd.
--The name of the infant who was found unresponsive at a Crow Wing County daycare has been identified. Sheriff Scott Goddard reports that on November 12th at 2:00pm his office received a call about an infant who was unresponsive at a daycare located on the 6500 block of Wetherbee Road in Brainerd. Upon arrival of First Responders, the infant was transported by North Ambulance to Essentia E.R. where the infant was pronounced dead. The infant has been identified as; nine month old Zander Miller, from Brainerd. The Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Investigation unit, along with Crow wing County Social Services and the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office, are currently investigating the case. The daycare license has been suspended pending the investigation. Upon completion of the investigation, all reports will be forwarded to the Crow Wing County Attorney’s Office which is standard protocol.
--Brainerd City Council decided to vote from within on their new City Administrator. At their meeting Tuesday night, the city council voted to hire Jennifer Bergman as the new administrator. Bergman served as the executive director of the HRA (Housing and Redevelopment Authority) for the city of Brainerd since 2011.
--An Avon man was hurt in a crash in St. Augusta. The Minnesota State Patrol says it happened at about 9:30pm Tuesday at the intersection of Highway 15 and County Road 136. Troopers say 26-year-old Morgan Alt of St. Augusta was going south on the highway when she went through a red light and struck a car. The car was going west on the county road. The driver of the car, 33-year-old Aaron Baros of Avon, was taken to St. Cloud Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Alt was not hurt. Troopers say alcohol may have been a factor in the crash.
--A man formerly of Utah has been sentenced to eight years in prison for robbing a St. Cloud bank in February. 28-year old Khalid Hassan Mohamud pleaded guilty to the February 22nd robbery of the Wells Fargo Bank at 200 33rd Avenue South. His case was moved up to federal court where he pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery on May 30th. Mohamud was in Minnesota because he has family connections to the St. Cloud area. He was arrested at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport on March 6th, based on a Utah Department of Corrections warrant for unrelated charges and then tied to the St. Cloud robbery.
MORE NEWS
--Little Falls Community High School DECA and Student Council are partnering for the annual school-wide Food Drive “Stock The Shelves Challenge”. The Food Drive will benefit the Kare Closet which provides food, clothing, and hygiene products to students at the Little Falls Community Middle School and Little Falls Community High School. The Kare Closet serves approximately 30 students per month. Many of these students are homeless, temporarily homeless, or living in extreme poverty. Non-perishable food, personal care items, and monetary donations are accepted at Door #1 at the Little Falls Community High School. Checks can be made out to Little Falls Community High School. The Stock the Shelves Challenge concludes on Friday, December 13th. If you have further questions contact Mike Kaluza at (320) 616-2278 or Sheila Watercott at (320) 616-2284.
--On Tuesday afternoon, a third-party contractor doing excavation work hit and cut a six-inch underground steel natural gas main in Paynesville. Some residents were evacuated as a precaution, everyone has now returned to their homes. CenterPoint Energy has activated its emergency response plan and crews and technicians worked throug the night to repair the damage. Gas service was shut off and these shut-offs were expected to be completed after midnight Wednesday morning and service was then restored.
--A former employee of the St. Cloud Area School District is facing charges after an audit revealed evidence of theft. District spokeswoman Tami Deland says during the year-end review the Business Services Department found discrepancies in student activities account balances at Tech High School. The district then requested an audit that uncovered evidence that a former employee had stolen more than $100,000 over the last two years. Deland says the investigation is active and theft-related felony charges are pending for the former employee, whose name has not been released. The district says they will be making changes to financial controls for all cash transactions district-wide.
--The End of Life Considerations discussions are today, the first is at St. Mary's Church in Little Falls at 9:30am, then second is at 6:30pm tonight at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Little Falls. There is no charge for the event put on by Catholic Aid Financial.
--A reminder that Pierz Healy High School presents Cinderella tonight and Friday night at 7pm and Sunday at 2pm at the High School. Tickets sold at the door of the events.
BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT
--Robert and Tasha Froelich of Pierz, a baby boy born November 18th.
DEATH NOTICES
--Duane J. Nagorski, age 70 of Little Falls formerly of Minneapolis.
--John Hasser, age 90 of Wahkon.
WEATHER
TODAY= snow showers early, gusty winds, temps drop to around 20.
TONIGHT= clearing skies, winds die down late, low 12, wind chills -5.
FRIDAY= sunny skies, high around 32, partly cloudy night, low 26.
SATURDAY= sunny and warmer, high 38, low around 22.
SUNDAY= partly sunny, high 42, flurries late night, low around 28.
SPORTS
NFL= Indianapolis at Houston tonight 7pm on AM960 KLTF.
COL FB= Gophers at Northwestern Saturday 11am on KLTF.